Private Music Lessons

Solon Center for the Arts offers a wide variety of private music lessons for students of all levels. Lessons are available for piano, voice, woodwinds, percussion, guitar, and string instruments. All of SCA’s instructors hold degree-level certification on their instruments and are accomplished performers. Instruction is offered in 30-minute, 45-minute, or 1-hour lessons. For more information about private music lessons, please call SCA at (440) 337-1400.

Meet the Instructors:

DR. DANIEL BARBER, Piano, is a native Clevelander and a graduate of University School. He studied with Andrius Kuprevicius at the Cleveland Music School Settlement. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, and Master and Doctor of Music degrees from Indiana University. He has studied with Beryl Ladd, Joseph Schwartz, Jack Radunsky, Gyorgy Sebok, Enrica Cavallo Gulli and Jorge Bolet. Dr. Barber is a pianist of wide-ranging repertory. He has played numerous Carnegie Hall recitals in New York and made his major orchestra debut in 1990 performing Alberto Ginastera’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Vladimir Ashkenazy conducting the Cleveland Orchestra in Severance Hall. He has been active in the Reconnaisance Chamber Ensemble and the Cleveland Composer’s Guild (all new music concerts). He has made promotional recordings for the Steinway Piano Company, and has served on the piano faculty at Illinois State University, the Cleveland Music School Settlement, and Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music, and he is currently on the piano faculty at Cleveland State University. Dr. Barber has had recent performances of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor), an all-Liszt solo recital for the Music under the Spire series held at the Lindsay-Crossman Chapel, Baldwin-Wallace College, and Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Anthony Addison and the Heights Chamber Orchestra. He plays keyboards for the Akron Symphony Orchestra and serves as organist at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, and St. Sebastian Catholic Church (Extraordinary Form Latin Mass). Dr. Barber is the author of an article published in the Garland Encyclopedia of Keyboard Music entitled World War II and the American Piano Builders and has also written his own method book, Piano Playing: A Comprehensive Course for the Beginning to Intermediate Level Piano Student. In 2012 he was nominated for a Grammy Award for teaching. He and his wife, Svetlana, have three grown children.

JAN BIS, Piano, has spent the last 19 years teaching piano. He received his Master of Music in Piano Performance at ClevelandStateUniversity. Prior to receiving his Master of Music, Jan studied at Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory where he earned his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance. During his years at ClevelandState and Baldwin-Wallace, he studied with Margarita Shevchenko and Robert Mayerovitch. Jan is a member of the Ohio Music Teacher Association and Cleveland Piano Teacher Association. Jan works with students of all ages and performance levels. He focuses each lesson on the student’s goals while working on hand position, correct fingering, scales, rhythms and note reading. Jan teaches each student core techniques to allow them to play a broad range of music and is able to prepare them for competitions as well as college auditions. Lessons begin at age 4.

DR. ALEXANDER KOSTRITSA, Piano, offers classical and pop/rock piano lessons starting at age 5. Dr. Kostritsa was born into a musical family in Moscow and started his piano lessons at the age of six. Dr. Kostritsa received his Master's degree from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. He studied with world-renowned pianists Mikhail Petukhov and Antonio Pompa-Baldi. Mr. Kostritsa is a prizewinner of international piano competitions Premio Rovere d’Oro (Italy, 2007), Slavic Music Festival (Ukraine, 2007), and Paul Badura-Skoda (Spain, 2010). He made his international debut when he was eight years old with a concert tour to Japan and has since performed as a soloist in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, South Korea, and the United States. Mr. Kostritsa received his teaching certificate from the Moscow Conservatory; he has maintained a private studio since 2006 and is currently employed as a piano instructor at Cuyahoga Community College. Mr. Kostritsa's solo albums "Three Generations of Mazurkas" and "Complete Dances by Maria Szymanowska" are available on Amazon, iTunes, and Spotify. You can also see his original compositions on YouTube.

NATALIYA SHEHLUK, Violin, Viola, was born in Lviv, Ukraine where she began her violin studies at the age of five. After graduating from musical school, Nataliya continued to develop her skills at Lviv State Musical College, where she earned a Bachelor's Degree in Violin Performance with multiple honors. She then pursued graduate study at Lviv State Musical Academy and later at the University of Akron with a concentration in music education. Nataliya recently completed the Master of Music degree in Violin Performance from Cleveland State University. Among her violin teachers are Yulia Onyschenko, Irina Svyatlovskaya, Alan Bodman, Cory Smith, and Peter Otto. Nataliya has performed with the Leopolis Orchestra, Lviv Opera Theatre Orchestra, Sandusky Symphony Orchestra, and many others.

TOM POORE, Guitar, with over 30 years teaching experience, has taught at the North Carolina School of the Arts Community Music Center and the Cleveland Institute of Music Preparatory Department. His background in teaching children includes Suzuki training, outreach programs through the Broadway School of Music and Passport Program, and the Cleveland Public Schools Arts in Summer Education Program.

Tom and his students have performed for WCPN radio and WVIZ television. Former students of his have gone on to earn scholarships and degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, The Juilliard School of Music, the Aspen Music Festival, and others.
Tom earned his bachelor’s degree at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he studied with Aaron Shearer, and master’s degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with John Holmquist. He was also the editor for Aaron Shearer’s three volume “Learning the Classic Guitar,” published by Mel Bay.
Currently he teaches in the greater Cleveland area at the Solon Center for the Arts, Western Reserve School of Music, Avon School of Music, and from his home in South Euclid.

JONATHAN GRIFFIN, Saxophone, Clarinet, Jazz Studies, has performed and soloed at many different venues including the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Lakeland Jazz Festival, the Tri-C Jazz Fest, The Brothers Lounge, Case Western Reserve’s Harkness Chapel, and Cleveland State University’s Drinko Music Hall. While a student at Baldwin Wallace, he participated in the Concert and Symphonic Wind Ensembles, the BW Sax Quartet, the BW Jazz Ensemble and Jazztet, in which he was a featured soloist and composer, and the BW Beatles. He has also had the opportunity to play with Cleveland’s own NeoDixie jazz combo and is a founding member of the Lake Erie Saxophone Quartet and BMONK jazz combo, which has performed at several locations throughout Cleveland. Jonathan is also a former member of the renowned Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony. Jonathan received a Bachelor of Arts in Music with a Jazz Emphasis from Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music. His teachers have included local woodwind players Tom Lempner and Lou Gangale as well as critically-acclaimed saxophonist Greg Banaszak. As an active music instructor, Jonathan is committed to continuously growing as a musician and imparting what he has learned to his own students.CAROLYN HUPALOWSKY, Bassoon, has been teaching bassoon and clarinet for ten years. She received a Bachelor's in bassoon performance from Baldwin Wallace Conservatory and a Master's from Cleveland State University. Teachers include Cynthia Cioffari, Jonathan Sherwin, Philip Austin, and Barrick Stees. She has recently performed with the Opera in the Ozarks at Inspiration Point, Tuscarawas Philharmonic, Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra, Lorain Civic Orchestra, True North Symphony, and Hudson Community Chorus. She has experience performing with symphony and chamber orchestra, wind ensembles, pit orchestra, woodwind quintets, and even a jazz trio. Carolyn produces her own line of handmade reeds, Good Vibrations Bassoon Reeds.

VANESSA MAJEWSKI, Flute, earned a Bachelor’s of Music Degree from Ball State University. Currently she performs with the Solon Philharmonic Orchestra and subs with the Lakeland Civic Orchestra and the Lake Erie College Flute Choir. Vanessa has also performed with the Cleveland Music School Settlement Flute Choir, in addition to keeping an active schedule as a freelance musician. Ms. Majewski has studied with Cleveland Orchestra flutists Mary Kay Fink and William Hebert, in addition to her collegiate studies with Dr. Julia Mattern. As a performer she was a member of the Muncie, Indiana Symphony Orchestra Woodwind Quintet and has been featured as a soloist at the Ohio Music Educators Association and National Flute Association Conventions. Vanessa has taught students of a wide variety of ages in Ohio and Indiana, and currently resides with her husband and two daughters in Parma Heights.

HEIDI RUBY-KUSHIOUS, Flute, received her Bachelor’s Degree from The Curtis Institute of Music as a scholarship student of Julius Baker, John Krell, and Murray Panitz. She continued her studies with Thomas Nyfenger at The Yale Graduate School of Music and Alain Marion at The Mozarteum in Salzburg. She performed her Carnegie Hall Debut to rave reviews by Tim Page of the New York Times, and was the Laureate Prize Winner of the prestigious Munich International Competition. Heidi has been concerto soloist with the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, City Music Cleveland, Red and Orchestra, Curtis Symphony, Yale Philharmonia, and in duo with Jean-Pierre Rampal and the Columbus Symphony. In addition to her twelve seasons with the Columbus Symphony, Heidi has held Principal Flute in the Tanglewood, Spoleto, National Repertory, Red, and Cleveland Pops Orchestras. She continues to play extra flute in the Cleveland Orchestra and Detroit Symphony, and is currently in her seventh season as Principal Flute with City Music Cleveland. Heidi’s students have been accepted at prestigious conservatories worldwide.

MARY KRASON WIKER, Voice, holds a B.A. in Music from Franciscan University of Steubenville and an M.M. in Vocal Performance from Cleveland State University. Mary is active throughout the greater Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Tri-State areas in choral, chamber, and solo vocal music. Mary is currently a part-time member of the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus and has participated in and contributed as a soloist in the university choirs of Franciscan University, Cleveland State University, Saint Vincent College, and various community courses. As a church musician, she has held positions as a cantor for Saint John Fischer Catholic Church (Richmond, OH) and as a visiting choir member and soloist in the Cleveland Diocese. Mary is a member of NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) and has prepared students for the annual OMEA vocal competitions and evaluations, where her students have received superior ratings.

Mary has performed operatic roles as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, the First Spirit in Die Zauberflöte, Carolina in Il matrimonio segreto, and as Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare. She has also been a soprano soloist in various chamber and choral works, including Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri, Mozart’s Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, and Schubert’s Mass in G. Mary has been teaching voice since 2008 and enjoys sharing the challenges and endless joys of studying music with her students. She teaches Classical and Broadway vocal literature as well as healthy vocal technique in her lessons. Her approach to teaching is to help students discover their natural voice in a healthy and supportive way through the practice of solid vocal technique.